Following Rina, Arden arrived at the rendezvous point.
"Daoist Arden, you're here!"
"Yo!"
"Y-You're here!"
The other three members of Victoria Housekeeping —Von Lycaon, Ellen Joe, and Corin—greeted Arden warmly upon seeing him.
"Daoist Arden, thank you so much for saving me earlier!"
Belle also expressed her gratitude through Eous for Arden's previous acupuncture treatment.
...
Without wasting time on reminiscing, everyone moved immediately after regrouping and launched the rescue operation for the great hacker, Rain.
"Sword of Red Heaven, Divide!"
Clang~!!
A flash of red light swept through, and the Ethereals were completely annihilated!
The members of Victoria Housekeeping were not to be outdone.
Rina commanded her two Bangboo like floating turrets in battle, Corin—small in stature and about the same height as Ju Fufu—charged head-on into large Ethereals with her monstrous strength, while Ellen truly resembled a shark, transforming into a black blur and darting rapidly between the Ethereals.
Last was Von Lycaon, whose leg-mounted exoskeleton served as his greatest weapon, all his techniques centered around kicks, with sweeping strikes enhanced by built-in micro-boosters that pushed his kicking power to terrifying levels.
Each kick shattered an Ethereal, nearly all instant kills.
Of course, when it came to efficiency in eliminating Ethereals, Arden still ranked highest.
"Daoist Arden, it's only been a few days, yet your swordsmanship has improved again!"
Watching Arden's crimson flying sword weave effortlessly as it wiped out waves of Ethereals, Von Lycaon offered his praise.
Victoria Housekeeping was formidable, but they defeated Ethereals one by one, while Arden cleared them in entire swathes.
"You're too kind—Mr. Lycaon as well. Your leg techniques are even cleaner and sharper than before."
Arden returned the compliment.
"You two are at it again with the professional flattery—aren't you tired of this?"
Ellen couldn't help but complain from the side.
They had exchanged mutual praise during their first collaboration, and they were still doing it now.
The world of adults was something she neither understood nor wanted to.
"Hmm… Miss Ellen has also become much faster than before, and her tail movements are far more flexible."
Arden hurriedly added, not wanting to end up sliced open by Ellen's massive scissors like those Ethereals.
"Hmph! That's more like it."
Hearing Arden's compliment, a faint smile flashed across Ellen's face before she quickly returned to her usual tsundere expression.
Still, much like Ju Fufu's tiger tail, the swaying of Ellen's shark tail betrayed her good mood.
Buzz—buzz~!
Suddenly, the surroundings dimmed, then brightened again, only to darken once more.
This cycle repeated continuously.
"Not good—the lights are starting to flicker."
Von Lycaon had initially not wanted to interrupt Arden and Ellen's interaction, since lightening the mood during a dull mission was fine, but the abnormal flickering of the corridor lights made his expression turn serious.
"Mr. Lycaon, is something wrong?"
Arden asked.
"Between the two towers, there's a safety protocol in the central atrium. Once one building loses power, an isolation gate will immediately drop—this is a fire safety measure."
Von Lycaon explained that once the isolation gate descended, passing through the atrium to reach Tower A would become extremely difficult, forcing them to detour, which would inevitably slow down the rescue—something no one wanted.
"I see. Then let's speed up."
As soon as he finished speaking, Arden immediately picked up the pace and rushed forward.
This was no longer the time for leisurely movement.
The members of Victoria Housekeeping followed suit, sharing the same thought, except Ellen, who looked visibly displeased—she hated running the most.
A shark running on land was a logistical nightmare, and this wasn't some knockoff shark movie.
"Celestial Talisman Arts: Haste!"
Arden tossed out talismans, each one sticking to everyone's chest.
Although the optimal buff placement was on the forehead, the talismans still caused everyone's speed to increase dramatically.
...
In just a short time, Arden reached the atrium entrance first.
Unfortunately, it seemed he was still a step too late—the isolation gate was about to close completely.
That wouldn't do!
"Celestial Talisman Arts: Fortify!"
First, he buffed Belion, then picked him up and hurled him forward like a bowling ball.
Rumble, rumble… thud!
Before the isolation gate fully closed, the hardened Belion wedged himself perfectly into the gap between the gate and the ground.
"Sword of Red Heaven!"
Arden then released the crimson flying sword to clear out the Ethereals approaching Belion.
"U-Uh… Daoist Arden, is Belion going to be okay?"
Rina asked worriedly as she arrived, seeing Belion twitching slightly.
"He should be fine for a short while… probably!"
Belion was already an extremely sturdy Bangboo, and with Arden's buff, holding out for a bit shouldn't be a problem.
Once everyone had arrived and all the Ethereals were repelled, they lay flat on the ground and slipped through the gap beneath the isolation gate one by one.
"Ellen!"
Arden grabbed Ellen by the tail and yanked her through.
"Uuuuh…"
Dragging her tail along the ground, Ellen winced and stroked it pitifully—intense friction had worn a small bald patch into her once-smooth shark tail.
Due to her body structure, Ellen had the hardest time squeezing through, but in the end, Arden's brute-force solution prevailed.
Finally, everyone held up the isolation gate together and rolled Belion through.
"Alright—one, two, three… let go!"
Boom~!
The isolation gate slammed shut, blocking the pursuing Ethereals on the other side.
After crossing the atrium, the group continued forward and soon entered Tower A.
Just after entering the building, Arden noticed a backpack lying on the ground—one he recognized immediately.
Before setting out, Evelyn Chevalier had shown Arden a photo of the great hacker Rain, and in that photo, Rain was carrying an identical backpack.
"This is hacker Rain's backpack."
Not only Arden, but Belle recognized it as well.
Incidentally, Belle's objective in entering the Ballet Twins Hollow was also Rain.
Previously, after obtaining an encrypted storage device from the Sacrifice incident, they needed someone to crack it. Nicole introduced hacker Rain, after which they received Rain's distress signal and decided to come to the rescue.
"Wait!"
Arden stopped Eous from touching the backpack.
Its sudden appearance here looked suspicious no matter how one viewed it.
"I'll do it."
Arden carefully picked up the backpack and opened it.
Inside was only a tablet, displaying a string of numbers.
"This is… a countdown?"
As it was about to tick from "00:01" to "00:00", Arden instinctively hurled the tablet away.
"…"
However, when the countdown reached zero, the tablet didn't explode—instead, it began playing music.
===BREAK===
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